Beside Me (The Whole Damn Time)
by The Little Ripper
Summary: He's engineering, she's biochem. A collection of fluffy Fitzsimmons drabbles and oneshots based off of prompts from Tumblr.
1. Football

**This is the first in the series of prompts that I've been getting, written a while back, in case any of you know me from Tumblr and remember. I figured, "why not post them here?" So yeah. If you guys have any Fitzsimmons prompts, send me a PM, a review, or drop by my Tumblr ask (meowl-mittens).**

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><p><strong>Prompt:<strong> Fitzsimmons being "Proud UK-ers" while watching a football match, while the rest of the team just watches them.

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><p><span><strong>Football<strong>

It was supposed to be just a quiet day on the Bus. The team had just wrapped up a mission in Belize and were in for a long, peaceful flight back to their US base.

_Ding!_

Well, they thought it would be peaceful.

Skye muffled a groan into her pillow. From her bunk, she could hear the incessant sounds of bottles rattling from the fridge, the bell of the toaster, and _it's really not supposed to take that long to pop popcorn like how many bags of it do you even need_. Only one person could possibly have that much going on in their little kitchen. Normally, she would have no objections to Fitz's feast preparations, but that was usually because she was right there helping him out and whipping something up for herself. But such was not the case today. Ward had, by some miracle, given her the day off from training and all she really wanted to do was sleep.

_Pop, pop, pop._

Sighing heavily, Skye gets up and opens the door of her bunk.

She marches to the open kitchen and finds Fitz making not one, but two sandwiches as a second bag of popcorn pops in the microwave. She quirks an eyebrow at the young engineer who doesn't seem to have noticed her presence yet.

"Are you making snacks for the whole team?"

The microwave chimes and Fitz is there to take the bag out in seconds, bowl at the ready on the counter below. He doesn't glance at Skye, as if he hadn't even heard the question.

"Uh, Fitz?"

"I'm a little busy right now, Skye," he grunts, putting the final touches in the sandwiches and runs back to the fridge to grab two bottles of Guinness.

Before Skye can comment, she hears the distant sound of a high-pitched voice come from the bunk next to hers. "Fitz, hurry on up! It's starting!"

If Fitz wasn't frantic before, he certainly is now. Skye watches with wide eyes as he gathers up both bottles, both plates of sandwiches and bowls of popcorn, and zooms past her straight into his bunk with more speed and agility she thought a scientist like him could have.

In Fitz's bunk she finds a small satellite-thing sitting on his bed, and Simmons sitting on his floor, blindly reaching for the sandwich and bowl of popcorn he hands her as he takes his seat by her side.

From the TV, Skye can see the channel display statistics of two different soc—er, _football_—teams.

Simmons turns up the volume as the game begins.

And Skye's eyebrows shoot up in amazement, because for the next twenty minutes, the two scientists invest themselves in the game as if they were two burly men in a sports bar. She knew this sport was a big deal to most Europeans, but she had no idea it could turn even their scientists into_ this_.

Fitz is trying to yell at the players despite the fact that his mouth is completely stuffed, bits of popcorn kernels falling out. It's quite a sight to see, really, because the kernels are all over his sweater and he's waving his sandwich in the air. But even so, he's still pretty toned-down compared to... Well, Fitz is Scottish, and today the game is between Spain and Britain, so he's really there more as support for Simmons.

Simmons—meek, demure Simmons—who has been throwing out words that Skye never even thought was in the young biochemist's vocabulary.

"What's going on?"

Skye turns her attention from the show (Fitzsimmons, not the game) to find Agent Ward behind her, eyebrows pulled together in confusion over the noise. She smirks. "I can't tell for sure from all the British slang, but I think Fitzsimmons are watching soccer."

"It's football!" the pair says simultaneously, never tearing their gaze from the screen, and startling Skye. The way they were throwing popcorn and screaming expletives at the TV (she's been keeping a mental tally of the number of times they've used the word 'bloody'), you would've thought they'd been stuck in their own little world.

Apparently they've maintained their awareness of the outside, or maybe that's just because it's halftime now and the commercials aren't much for attention-grabbers.

"Honestly, you Americans can be quite daft," Simmons says, "calling football anything but is just absurd."

"That's because we have our own version of football," Ward says a bit defensively.

Fitz scoffs before taking another fistful of popcorn. "You mean your 'American football' where the players don't even use their feet?"

"And an _oval_-shaped ball? It makes no sense why you yanks didn't decide to call that soccer instead," Simmons finishes.

Even Ward raises an eyebrow at that. Who knew football made Simmons so... British?

Before anyone else can comment, the second-half of the game is on and Fitzsimmons are back to their patriotic scream-fest. Ward leaves them to it, heading to the bar to grab himself a beer. Skye trails after him, sighing partly in amusement. It looks like she won't be getting any sleep for at least another twenty minutes.

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><p><strong>Reviews are very much appreciated :)<strong>


	2. Soft Kittens

**Prompt: **When they're exhausted, Fitz and Simmons have a habit of falling asleep no matter where they are. They also have a habit of snuggling together whilst they sleep. What happens when the rest of the team catch them doing this for the first time on the Bus...

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><p><span><strong>Soft Kittens<strong>

_Soft kitty, warm kitty_

_Little ball of fur_

It wasn't uncommon for scientists like them to spend late nights in the lab, poring over new inventions or unidentified specimen, only to wake up the next morning with knotted necks and a caffeine hangover. During their stay at the S.H.I.E.L.D. Training Academy, the assigned lab to Fitzsimmons had almost never spent a night unoccupied. Being the two youngest recruits in the program, and both only eighteen, the engineer and the biochemist had also been the two most dedicated students of the Academy in their time. One or both was always working on something in the wee hours of the night.

This usually made for a very sleepy Fitzsimmons during the day.

On more than one occasion had they been reprimanded for falling asleep in class. Being partners, they were always side by side, and just as often did they fall asleep against each other in class. It used to be a running joke in the Academy that they "sure knew how to tire each other out at night", much to the pair's chagrin. But even when they rested on separate sofas in study hall, they would wake up to find their bodies angled toward each other, their fingers sometimes mysteriously entwined.

The habit carried on into their job at S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Sci-Ops division. While everyone else in their class had been shuffled and reassigned upon graduating the Academy, their partnership was simply promoted to a permanent status. It was then that everyone had begun to see them not as Fitz and Simmons, but as Fitzsimmons, two names of a single entity. It translated in nearly every aspect of their lives. When they were travelling or working in the lab, or even during movie night, somehow their bond was so deeply ingrained that they sought each other out even in unconsciousness.

So naturally, they'd brought their habit onto the Bus as well.

After having successfully saved Coulson's former protégé Akela from her exploding eye, Fitzsimmons had invited the whole team to their customary movie night to celebrate. Instead of setting up in Simmons' room, the pair had laid out all their snacks in front of the TV in the main living area of the plane, so that even if no one really intended to join them, they were still welcome to change their mind and do so.

A little past eleven o'clock, Ward had decided to venture out of his bunk to the bar. He was having trouble sleeping, and decided a well-deserved drink would probably help.

On his way to the bar, he comes across a giddy Skye, taking pictures on her phone.

"_What_ are you doing?"

Skye responds with a nod in the direction of her photographic subjects. Sometime during Star Trek, the two scientists had fallen asleep on the couch.

"They've literally been inching toward each other from opposite ends of the couch since they fell asleep," she tells him cheekily. "I'm capturing the moment."

Ward gives her a disapproving look, but leaves her to it. Everyone knows how close Fitzsimmons are anyway, and he's just thankful that Skye is choosing to branch out with her annoyance tactics.

When he makes his way back to his bunk, nursing a tumbler of scotch, he lets his curiosity get the best of him, and stops to take a peek into the living area. Skye seemed to have decided it was time to call it a night, leaving the TV running the movie's closing credits, and Fitzsimmons resting in peace.

She was right; the two did seem to have adjusted closer to each other since he'd left to get his drink. Leaning into each other moments before, Simmons was now completely curled into Fitz, one of his arms dangling lazily over her shoulders. Out of nowhere, the Scot even seems to nuzzle his nose closer to Simmons' hair.

It was cute, if you were into that kind of thing.

After all, Agent Grant Ward knew better than to call anything cute.

_Happy kitty, sleepy kitty_

_Purr, purr, purr_

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	3. How To Keep a Secret

**Prompt: **Fitzsimmons have been dating for three years, and no one knows except for May, until they find out.

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><p><span><strong>How To Keep a Secret<strong>

They're not really sure how they've managed to keep it up for so long, to be quite honest.

It's kind of amazing, really.

It started after a particularly emotionally-exhausting mission. It wasn't the first time Simmons' life had been in danger, and it certainly wasn't the last, but it was the first time she had been injured, the closest she'd come to death since that horrid Chitauri virus. And in those moments after all the commotion, when they were finally left alone, something inside Fitz just snapped. Suddenly lips were on lips and they spent the next hour trying to sort their feelings out in-between kisses.

They'd been together ever since.

That was three years ago.

At first they had purposely kept it a secret; the team had just begun to really gain their footing not just in missions, but in personal dealings as well. There was no S.H.I.E.L.D. regulation, as far as they knew, that prohibited inter-office (if the Bus even counted as an office) romances. They just didn't want their relationship to disrupt the growing progress. It wasn't like much had to change. They eventually realized that only thing different about their dynamic was that now it involved more touching, more physical affection, and much, much more kisses… in private, of course.

After the first seven months or so, it had somehow managed to evolve into a game, into little experiments. How many kisses could they steal in a mission? How close was too close for everyone's comfort? How many glances could they sneak during team meetings? And Fitz's personal favorite: How much noise could they make at night without waking anyone up?

There had been slip-ups, of course, and many close calls. On more than one occasion had Fitz nearly gotten caught sneaking out of Jemma's bunk—damn Ward and his early morning workouts. Skye was both the easiest and most difficult person to fool, since she was the only member of the team who openly expressed how much she "shipped" them, whatever that meant. But the hacker also had the tendency to be ridiculously (and thankfully) naïve, which they were using to their advantage. As for Coulson, they knew their boss was particularly intuitive, but if he did know anything, he'd never said as much.

They're seventy-five percent sure May knows. She does fly the damn plane after all; it only makes sense that she's also aware of everything that happens in it.

They know that three years is an awfully long time to keep a secret like this, and that at this point, there's no need to keep mum about it. It's just that somewhere along the way, they just found it useless to tell them upfront. Generally, they've stopped trying to hide it; they just weren't big on public displays of affection. So as far as the team could see, Fitzsimmons was just a pair of platonic scientists with a lot of underlying sexual tension… Which isn't really that far off the bat, though they've long resolved the tension.

Tonight though, Fitz was hoping to change that.

The team had just arrived back on base after a daunting mission involving an underground mafia getting a hold of alien technology. Everyone had gone their separate ways to rest up before meeting back on the Bus in the morning for their next assignment. It was also the night of Fitzsimmons' third anniversary.

The next morning after take-off, everyone gathered in the lab after receiving a cryptic summoning from the couple.

Coulson was the first to enter, followed by Ward and Skye who appeared to be geared up for a training session, with May appearing a few minutes later.

"Alright then," Simmons started off, looking like a giddy schoolgirl, "now that everyone's here, Fitz and I would like to share some news with you."

Skye and Ward quirked an eyebrow, May looked as smug as May could look, and Coulson maintained his default "polite face". There's a beat of silence before Fitz blurts out, "Jemma and I are together!"

"What do you mean by 'together'?" Skye asks, her whole body perking up in interest.

"We mean we've been officially a couple for three years now." Simmons answers.

"_What_?" Ward sputters out, at the exact same time Skye exclaims "You're kidding!" and drops her jaw to the floor.

Even Coulson looks taken aback, but May just looks openly smug now, as if this was exactly what she'd been expecting. They suppose that answers that question.

Ward looks floored, and speechless, so Skye takes it upon herself to ask the obvious question. "Why the _hell_ are you only telling us now?!"

"It never seemed like the right time?" Fitz says lamely, accompanying the excuse with an equally pathetic shrug.

It's to this that Coulson finally speaks up. "Three years seems to be plenty of time to find 'the right one'."

"I actually think it's kinda cute," Skye pipes up, to which Ward rolls his eyes. "I mean, it's definitely uncool to keep the rest of the team out of the loop for that long, but the whole sneaking-around-secret-relationship thing," she smirks, "does sound pretty hot."

Before Fitz has a chance to choke on thin air, Ward interjects, "What matters is that we know now. And if you two have no more surprises for us, maybe we should all get back on track."

"Actually…" Fitz says, looking a bit more enthusiastic now. "The reason we wanted to announce this rather than just letting you guys pick it up by yourselves is because—"

"—we're getting married!"

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	4. Care Packages

**Okay, this is the last fic in my stock of Tumblr posts, so don't expect very consistent/frequent updates like these past few days. (Sorry, busy busy.)**

**Kudos to anyone who gets the series I referenced for this fic :)**

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><p><strong>Prompt: <strong>No matter what, once a month Simmons' grandmother sends a care-package for Simmons and Fitz.

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><p><span><strong>Care Packages<strong>

"Jemma, it's here!"

Simmons looks up from her microscope to find her partner balancing a large cardboard box in one arm, and opening the door to their shared laboratory with the other. Eagerly, she clears their workspace enough for Fitz to set the box down.

The two immediately get to work on cutting through the tape and bubble wrap. Few un-science-related things got them this excited. Grandma Simmons' monthly care packages were one of them.

It was in their second year at the Academy that Simmons had brought Fitz home with her to London for the holidays. The whole Simmons clan had taken to the young Scot almost immediately, but none were as fond of him as the matriarch of the Simmons clan. All he had to do was compliment her on her baking prowess and suddenly she was encouraging him to call her Gram. She was the grandmother Fitz had never had.

When Simmons received her care package the next month, she found the box had been addressed to both her and Fitz. It had been that way ever since.

The duo thought that once they'd boarded the Bus, Gram's packages would become infrequencies to look forward to everytime they made it to base, but every month, without fail, Coulson would call Fitz or Simmons to his office to receive the package. No one knew how Coulson managed to procure them from base, since the team was usually up in the air for weeks at a time, but they didn't really question it either. Why not just enjoy Grandma Simmons' Three Essentials to a Great Care Package instead?

_Fun._

"Another stuffed monkey?" Simmons says, shaking her head. Fitz ignores her, pulling out the monkey and inspecting the matching monkey flash drive attached to its hand. It was Grams who had nurtured Fitz's love and fascination of monkeys in the first place.

Simmons reaches in to find several DVDs of Classic Who, a pack of Monopoly Deal, some goofy-looking pens, and a model of a rat's anatomy, the kind where you can take apart it's insides and put them back together. She smiles fondly at her Gram's thoughtfulness, the elderly woman had never been very knowledgeable of her granddaughter's field, but she's certainly always been supportive.

"Actually, the monkey's for you, Jem," Fitz says, offering the toy to her and holding up a little note in his other hand. "'Says it's for us to match."

_Food._

After getting past the first layer of fun, Simmons' nostrils are attacked by the scent of homemade chocolate chip cookies. She grabs the two bags and hands the larger one to Fitz. Gram used to send just one big pack for them to share, but after several arguments, she'd started sending the cookies in two separate packs to make sure Fitz didn't eat everything and leave none for Jemma.

Fitz opens his bag and inhales deeply, the scent wafting through the lab. "Mmm, still smells fresh." He digs in immediately and Simmons smiles. He was never the patient type, so she would save her cookies and share them with him after a few days once he starts regretting devouring his share so quickly.

She unloads the rest of the food as Fitz continues to enjoy his cookies: two boxes of Earl Gray tea, a box of microwavable popcorn ("Thank god," Fitz says over his full mouth, "we were running out."), a bag of chocolate minis, and a bottle of Simmons' favorite roasted almonds.

She gathers up the food and sets them on the table closest to the door before turning to Fitz. "Save some for later, won't you? We're not yet done."

_Love._

The last layer of the care package is covered with knitwear. With the holidays fast approaching, Grandma Simmons has sent Fitzsimmons their gear early. There are two woolen bonnets, each with 'Jemma' and 'Leo' embroidered inside, and a scarf for each of them in their favorite color (light blue for Simmons and green for Fitz).

"D'you think we'll make it home for the holidays this year?" Simmons asks, fiddling with the ends of her scarf.

Fitz reads the concern on her face and understands. Working for S.H.I.E.L.D. has always meant that they spent most of the year far away from home, but in Sci-Ops they at least knew that they could go home in time for Christmas. With the Bus and its missions' inconsistencies however, they couldn't be sure.

"'Don't know," Fitz tells her softly. "We better hope that alien worshippers and evil corporations don't operate on Christmas."

He manages to elicit a smile from Simmons with that and gives her hand a light squeeze, the kind that she knows means "we'll cross that bridge together when we get there".

At the bottom of the box is a thin album of photographs. In her youth, Grandma Simmons had been a talented photographer, and while her profession had dwindled to hobby over the years, she never stopped taking pictures. She had always preferred a good ol' film camera, which meant that it took a while for her to develop the photos. "You can't fault an ol' lady like myself for being forgetful," she always said, "but you can be sure that I've kept the memories you want to remember."

The photos are from eight months ago, when she and Jemma's parents had come to visit America. Fitzsimmons had been stationed in New York at the time, so there are photos of Times Square, Central Park, and the Statue of Liberty, some are of artistic scenery, but most have a member of the family as its subject—and yes, Fitz counts as part of the family.

They leaf through the pages, fondly recalling anecdotes from touring Jemma's Gram and parents around the city, laughing at their silly faces from their lunch at a pizza place.

"Do you remember her taking this?" Simmons asks as they reach the last photo. It's from their ferry ride around Liberty Island, a candid shot. Their bodies are angled off to the side, but you can clearly see their faces and the wind blowing on their hair. Their arms are linked together, pulling each other as close as humanly possible, probably from the cold. Simmons is talking with a smile on her face and Fitz is looking down at her. They both look absolutely engrossed in each other's presence, wrapped up in their own little world.

"No," Fitz replies after a beat, blood rushing up to his face. From the corner of his eye he can see Simmons blushing too.

At the end of the day they repack the box and head to the kitchen to stock the food in the little cupboard they've claimed as just _theirs_, make two cups of tea, and huddle in front of Simmons' laptop in her bunk, opening Skype.

"Hi Gram," they say simultaneously when she picks up.

"Hello darlings!" comes a reply from the other end. "Have you received my package yet?"

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	5. The Boiler Room

**So if you guys have any prompt requests, just send me a message or drop by my ask on Tumblr (meowl-mittens). I can't promise to be very punctual about it, but I do try.  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Prompt: <strong>aidnturner: Fitzsimmons' first time in the boiler room.

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><p><span><strong>The Boiler Room<strong>

"Is this really necessary?"

He catches Jemma roll her eyes as she continues to pull on his arm down the staircase. Fitz had made the terrible mistake of telling her how he'd never been to the Boiler Room before. He didn't think it was a big deal, and was honestly surprised when she'd reacted so violently. _Five months at the Academy and you're telling me you've never even set foot in the place?!_

Of course friendly Jemma finds it shocking that he'd rather stay away from non-compulsory social interaction. She's invited him casually a few times now, but he'd always found a way around it; studying, working up new blueprints or on the DWARF bot he was trying to develop. Now, however, exams had just ended and she'd invited him to celebrate. He tried telling her no, but she wasn't having it, and had pushed until he told her his not-so-secret.

"You'll like it," she tells him, "I promise."

He's trying his best not to groan, or to grumble his complaints. Jemma opens the door and practically pushes him through the threshold. The moment he feels the pulsing beat of loud techno music, Fitz immediately misses the quiet solitude of his room. He notices a few of his classmates eyeing him skeptically as Jemma leads him to the bar, probably wondering how she'd managed to convince him of all people to appear in public outside of class.

He's wondering the same thing. He's known this girl for what, a month? And somehow he's already letting her drag him miles out of his comfort zone. Maybe it's because she's his only friend so far. Although, if this is the kind of thing friendship entails, he's seriously considering whether the endeavor is worth it.

"Order whatever drink you want," Jemma says. "It's on me."

He shrugs and goes for a beer. The bartender is an upperclassman who also takes engineering, and he unfortunately recognizes Fitz from one of his freshman pranks. He hands Jemma their drinks, but not without first having another laugh at Fitz's expense. He's bright red when the bartender leaves, and though Jemma isn't laughing, he's still thoroughly embarrassed. She is, after all, one of the most well-liked students in their batch, and someone like her shouldn't be hanging out with a loner like him in the first place.

"Here," she says, handing him his beer, "maybe you'll have more fun once you've had some alcohol in your system."

He doubts that, but he accepts the bottle anyways, downing half of it in seconds, in the attempt to maybe, _maybe_ loosen up. When he's done, he finds Jemma looking at him with wide eyes, her mouth slightly open, lips and hand having stopped mid-sip. It's cute, he thinks, but he immediately pushes back the thought (it'll come easier to him as the years pass) and demands, "What?"

She raises an eyebrow, not moving anything else. "I'm Scottish," he shrugs, catching on. "And you said you wanted me to have fun, right?"

Jemma rolls her eyes at him and he can't help but smile. He hasn't known her long, but he's been enjoying her company.

Fitz finishes his drink easily, and once he's on his second, he finally feels himself fall at ease. He and Jemma talk and talk and talk, almost never stopping for breath. She's giggling at his terrible impression of Professor Galloway when she suddenly challenges him to a game of pool. She's terrible at it, he finds, or maybe he just has the upper-hand because measurement and calculations are second nature to him. (It could also be because she's already a bit tipsy, and she's only on her second beer. A lightweight, he thinks to himself, and mentally takes note to remedy that problem.) Either way, he's beating her mercilessly.

Soon enough one of their classmates comes over and challenges Fitz to a game. He'd prefer spending time with just Jemma, but she accepts for him, and when their game is over (Fitz wins) a few more competitors line up against him. He beats each and every one of them, with Jemma grinning by his side, cheering him on. A few of the guys shake his hand or clap his back in good humor, and Fitz can actually feel the respect he's starting to gain from his peers.

It's strange to realize the fact that all he had to do was play a simple game to gain friends. It's even stranger to know that all this happened because he'd let a starry-eyed BioChem student drag him away from his solitude. (He will eventually learn that this is not the last time she will do this for him.)

He glances over at Jemma and finds that she's beaming at him with a sort of pride. He feels like she's giving him a gift with this friendship, and later on he'll vow to repay her for all of this, for volunteering to be partners with a shy, scrawny boy in their Holographic Engineering class. One day he'll volunteer to do something to help her.

(Six years later, when she's pale and shaking from the other side of their lab door, struggling to save her own life, he thinks of this promise as he sprints up the stairs to the Bus' interrogation room.)

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	6. Jump In

**So, I've decided, since it would just be a cluttery mess to post all my drabbles one by one, to leave them all in one place. I'll be deleting _The Boiler Room_ and _Hold On To Where We Are_ in a bit to leave them here.**

**Update: I won't be deleting _The Boiler Room _anymore (because that would mean deleting your reviews and I could never bring myself to do that) so I'm just gonna add it here a second time. Also, I know I posted this story first, but I wanted this to go in the order that I posted them on Tumblr, so yeah. (In case any of you care.)**

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><p><strong>Prompt: <strong>ftchocoholic: Simmons convincing Fitz to swim in the swimming pool [at the Academy]?

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><p><span><strong>Jump In<strong>

"I think it's a great idea."

"So do I."

Ward looks skeptically back and forth at the two women smirking in front of him. This is wrong. This is so wrong. It's one thing for Skye to be up to her "bad girl shenanigans", but it's completely different when Simmons backs her up on it. (How the hell did she manage to convert her anyways?)

Coulson had been called to settle a few things at the Academy regarding the Donnie Gill incident yesterday, so he and May had left the rest of the team to go off as they pleased. Nobody was in very high spirits after what had happened, and Skye was in a particularly off mood, which was why it came as a surprise to all of them when she suggested, out of nowhere, jumping in the pool.

"Everyone needs a distraction today," she said. Ward doesn't miss the concerned glance she throws in a certain engineer's direction. He was not okay with this, but once Skye had pitched the idea to Simmons, who had been hovering over Fitz with worry all day, he knew he wouldn't be able to control them both.

"We'll just jump in for a few minutes and then go back to the Bus," Skye says. "It'll be fun. Don't you want to prove that you know how to have fun?"

Ward grunts at the gibe and crosses his arms stubbornly, taking his stance on the matter. He sneaks a look at Fitz, who doesn't even seem to be listening. He can't blame the scientist for being out of his spirits. He knows what it feels like to carry the weight of guilt on your shoulders.

Skye and Simmons are staring at him with actual puppy eyes.

He sighs. He's going to regret this. "You've already brought us to the damn pool anyway."

They're standing right in front of it. Ward realizes that he's been so focused on their verbal advances; he'd completely lost focus on the direction they were heading. Some Specialist, he thinks.

The two women let out a holler of triumph and immediately shed their shoes. But they notice that their men—really, boys in this case—are standing firmly in place. "If you think it's just me and Skye who are jumping in," Simmons says firmly, addressing Fitz more than Ward, "you are sorely mistaken."

For all their differences, Ward and Fitz manage to roll their eyes at the exact same time, similar expressions on their faces. "I'm not in the mood for this bloody nonsense," Fitz mutters, turning towards the bleachers, the same ones where, according to the reports, Donnie had been sitting at during the first staged incident.

From behind her, she hears Ward's comical bellow as Skye pushes him into the pool, completely unprepared, letting out her own shriek as she cannonballs in to join him. She ignores their laughter, padding barefoot towards Fitz on the bleachers.

"Penny for your thoughts?" she says quietly, sitting next to him.

"I don't want to talk about it," he grumbles a bit childishly. He refuses to look at her, lest he give in to her urging. He expects her to push and pry, because that's what she usually believes will help make him feel better, so he's surprised when all she does is take his hand and give it a light squeeze.

"Then don't think about it," she says. His head snaps around to look at her now, confused. "There's plenty of time to dwell on bad memories once we're back in the air. But for now let's enjoy our last few moments back in the Academy, yeah? Relive a few good ones."

Fitz thinks back to the last time they were in that very same pool. It was late, they were drunk, and they had just been told that they were going to graduate _three years early_. Not only that, but they were also set to be stationed in Sci-Ops with their very own lab and immediate Level Five clearance. (Fitz had been one of the hopefuls to be stationed in the Sandbox, but he was just as happy knowing that he didn't have to be separated from Simmons.) They hadn't jumped in, but they'd rolled up their jeans and dipped their feet in the water, drinking and already dreaming up the projects they wanted to start once they had their own lab.

It's a good memory, alright. Certainly one worth reliving. He squeezes her hand and gives her a little smile. It's all she needs to break out into a grin and to pull him off of his seat.

Skye is tackling Ward in a failed attempt to dunk him underwater. She's giggling uncontrollably until she notices the two scientists approach the edge of the pool.

"'Bout time!" Skye yells, and Ward is laughing next to her, actually _laughing_.

"You go first," Fitz says quickly.

Simmons looks at him in shock, humor plain on her face. "And leave you up here to chicken out? Not a chance!"

Before he can throw back a retort, she puts all of her weight into _pushing_ him and without warning; Fitz flails into the pool with a loud splash. He flails a little more once he's in the water and Simmons is in hysterics as she watches him. She's laughing so hard that she notices too late the wet hand that wraps around her ankle and _yanks_ her into the pool.

They all take their time goofing around in the pool, at one point attempting, and failing miserably, to play chicken. It isn't until they notice Coulson and May standing by the pool, their meeting having ended early. While May is doing a much better job at keeping a straight face than Coulson, the four other team members still file out of the pool quietly, like children getting caught by their parents. They make their way across campus in soaking wet clothes, enduring the cold and the curious looks of students who pass them by.

It's when they're back on the Bus, lining up for a shower that Skye breaks out into a grin and says, "Totally worth it."

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><p><strong>Remember to favoritereview/you know the drill!**


	7. Truth or Dare

**To the anon who prompted this via review, this probably wasn't what you were hoping to get, and for that I apologize. I hope you like it anyway?**

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><p><strong>Prompt:<strong> Fitzsimmons play truth or dare with the rest of the team.

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><p><span><strong>Truth or Dare<strong>

It started out as an uncommonly quiet night. By lunch they had wrapped up a fairly simple mission involving another Chitauri metals dealer. So after dinner Skye decided to break out the beer, drag her S.O. down to the cargo hold and call Fitzsimmons from their lab. "You said it yourself that it's important to unwind from time to time," Skye tells Simmons when she and Fitz politely decline. "We deserve a little celebration for how well things went today." The two scientists shrugged at this and decided to humor the hacker, abandoning their work in the lab.

They're on their second six-pack when Skye challenges everyone to a game of truth or dare. Fitzsimmons immediately agrees, though they don't actually look too buzzed, and Ward has to gulp down his current bottle before he finally nods.

It's fairly harmless at first. The bottle spins a few times and the routine questions are asked. (Last person you slept with, how many, most embarrassing date story.) Skye, of course, is the only one with enough nerve and alcohol in her system to pick dare. By the time the two six-packs are gone and they're passing around a bottle of vodka (from Fitz's secret stash, apparently), the bottle lands on Fitz for the third time. He's obviously about to choose truth, so Skye somehow goads him into choosing dare instead. (She's hella annoying when she's drunk.)

"I dare you to kiss the hottest person on this plane."

To her confusion, Simmons sputters out a laugh. It's funny, of course, because she is very much aware of her best friend's infatuation with the resident hacker. She could see from his face that he was ready to back out on the dare, but she had laughed and now he was staring at her. She's not sure if it's the alcohol that makes his expression difficult to decipher, or maybe it's because she can't fathom a reason why he's looking at her with an odd mix of confusion and determination.

It's definitely the alcohol, however, that makes Fitz take hold of her face and press his lips to hers. Simmons' eyes flutter closed almost instantly, and she lets out a gasp that's enough for his tongue to graze through her teeth. She kisses him back just as fervently, the fingers of her left hand running through his hair while the right hooks onto his tie. His is cupping her face while the other presses on the small of her back, pulling her closer. His teeth tug at her bottom lip, and suddenly the world melts away. She retaliates by gripping tightly at the hair on the nape of his neck and sighs at the low growl she feels come out of his throat.

It's at that moment that Skye finally decides to interrupt them. (She is absolutely giddy at this new development, but she _so_ does not want watch things go any further.) The two scientists spring apart, obviously having forgotten that they weren't alone. They flush half out of heat and half out of embarrassment.

Skye is looking at them with a smug smile and buggy eyes. Ward just looks uncomfortable, there's no other word for it.

There's a moment of silence where everybody looks at everybody before Ward (naturally) is the first to gain his composure and takes the bottle in the center. "Yeah, I think we've all had enough for one night."

Fitzsimmons immediately mumble out agreements and scramble to help Ward gather the scattered empty bottles, refusing to look each other in the eye. Ward has to give his rookie a nudge to get her to snap out of whatever is running through that crazy head of hers so she can help.

The next morning Skye is happily surprised to find that she'd slept 'til noon. (There's a note on her bedside table from Ward saying he's cancelled training for the day, with two Advils and a glass of water sitting next to it; it makes her smile.) After gulping down the tablets, she tries to recall last night's events, vividly remembering her little dance number on Lola's seats (crap) and… _ah yes_.

She ventures out of her bunk in search for food, when she finds Fitzsimmons sitting on the couch in front of the TV. Their torsos are pressed against each other, both of them holding mugs of tea, with Fitz's arm languidly resting around Simmons' shoulders. When they notice her staring, they both give her a smile. "Oh good, you're up," Simmons said sweetly, lifting her head off of Fitz's shoulder.

"Jemma left some bacon out for you from this morning," Fitz then says, turning his attention back to the TV. Simmons offers Skye one last bright smile before turning away as well.

Skye can only stand there and blink. The gears in her head were moving but could not, for the life of her, understand. Last night, these two so-called platonic best friends had been all over each other. Shouldn't they be all over each other now? Or even be avoiding each other? Not acting so… comfortable. Shouldn't something have changed?

She watches as Fitz's fingers start to draw circles on Simmons' shoulder, how he presses his lips on the crown of her head to whisper something that makes her shoulders shake in soft laughter, burying her smile in the fabric of his shirt. Okay, so maybe something _has_ changed, but they still seem to be pretty much the same. Skye supposes that's just how they are.

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><p><strong>*throws cookies* Remember to review!<strong>


	8. Nine Seconds

**This wasn't prompted by anything other than the messy emotions I know we were all left with after T.R.A.C.K.S.**

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><p><span><strong>Nine Seconds<strong>

Nine seconds.

It takes nine seconds after watching her go down for Skye to take two fingers to her pulse and reassure him that she's alive.

It's the longest nine seconds of his life.

The air escapes his lungs in those nine seconds. He can hear himself, the quick, loud, frantic pants as the room begins to spin. Only Jemma remains steady in his view; the focal point of his very existence. He can't do anything but stare at her; unmoving, lifeless, the purple veins bright on her pale skin and scaring the living daylights out of him.

A million thoughts run through his head: things they've done, things they've said, things they never did or said and _oh god_ what if they never will? If Jemma has stopped breathing, he's pretty sure these might be his last breaths as well. He doesn't want to move until she does.

"She's okay."

And suddenly the world falls back into its place, albeit still a little hazy. She is, after all, unconscious on the floor. But knowing that her heart, half of his own, is still beating, it's enough to spring him back to action. He follows the steps, instructing Skye the way Jemma would, listening to her voice in his head that he's grown so accustomed to after hearing her explain so many times the procedure for situations like this.

The desperate need to help her kicks the agent and scientist in him, and he gathers his wits enough to assess the damn device that knocked her out. The tech is familiar, almost similar to his own, and the purple veins under her eyes finally register in his brain as something other than horrific. Her own bloody formula used against her.

It's only when Skye brings it up that he realizes he should close her eyes, if only to remind himself that she's fine, she's just sleeping. Only it doesn't. Closing her eyes doesn't make her look any better and all it really does is bring back the terror he felt moments ago.

This isn't like the Chitauri incident, where she may have fallen off, but at least she was still standing and Ward could save her when he couldn't. It all feels so much more _real_, seeing her like this. It's much easier to dismiss a plane jump because he doesn't actually see her fall limp, not like this. This is what she could look like in a coffin, he thinks; pale and peaceful and still painfully beautiful. He can't keep his thoughts off his face, it seems, because the concern on Skye's face is for _him_ and not Jemma.

The hacker's words are going in one ear and going out the other. He's too focused on Jemma. Part of him wants to be furious with his partner, because she's a brilliant scientist with two PhDs but she can be so bloody _stupid_ sometimes. He's fully aware that it could have been a real grenade that she protected them from. Why does she have to be so heroic, so rash?

And now he and Skye are need to be heroic too.

He hates the idea of leaving her like this. He wants to stay by her side _the whole damn time_, but he knows this mission is bigger than either of them. Thank god Skye is quick to think, because only half his brain seems to be working at the moment. All he can think about is Jemma's face.

He remembers their first few months at the Academy; some bitchy senior girl had written on Jemma's face once, when she had fallen asleep studying for midterms in the library. He hadn't been with her, and his heart nearly sank when she'd showed up at his dorm room, the marker ink smudging on her cheeks because of her tears. She hated falling asleep anywhere remotely public after that, unless Fitz was with her. Even then, she still felt uncomfortable whenever she woke up someplace other than her bed or their lab

Gently, he slips the Night-Night gun through her fingers, giving her hand a firm squeeze as he hides it under the blanket. He really, really doesn't want to leave her like this, but what choice do they have? At this point he's just thankful that she'd taught him to be so prepared, enough to have the sense to bring an extra Night-Night gun in a non-combat op. All he can do now is pray that she wakes up before anyone else finds her.

He and Skye have work to do.

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><p><strong>I'm suffering from self-pity after a sucky Physics test, so cheer me up please? Leave me a review ;)<strong>


	9. The Beach

**I realize it's been a while since I'd posted anything, and it took me nearly a month to realize that while I _had_ written and posted this on Tumblr, I had yet to post them here. And there are two of them, so here, have two fics. Not my best, but I hope you like them either way.**

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><p><strong>Prompt:<strong> fitzsimmons at the beach!

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><p><span><strong>The Beach<strong>

They weren't used to vacations. Visits back home, yes, but actual leisurely holidays? An agent of S.H.I.E.L.D was hardly privileged enough to have so much down time, but Coulson and May had landed the Bus in Malaysia and had left them unoccupied for the day. Coulson suggested that they spend some time at the beach, so the four younger members of the team piled into the Short Bus while Coulson and May took off in Lola.

It was a weekday, and not in peak season, so the beach wasn't too populated. The team easily found a place to set down their things, and Fitz glanced around. Next to him, Ward was already pulling off his shirt, earning appreciative glances not just from Skye and Simmons, but also from a few female passersby. It made the young Scot a little cranky, and very insecure. The only consolation was that Skye was stripping down, too, to a purple bikini that made his neck red. He glanced away as the hacker pulled her SO away and toward the water.

Simmons was sitting on her towel. She was wearing shorts and a loose tank top, which was a lot compared to what Skye was currently wearing (although he can see two strings tied at the nape of her neck, so Skye must've lent her a swimsuit), but it was certainly showing more skin than what Fitz was used to seeing. He walked closer and sat next to her, eyeing the book she was reading.

"I've never been to the beach before," he said. Simmons closed her book and smiled at him.

"Neither have I. There was never much chance for it."

He smiles at that, yet another experience that they share.

"Fitzsimmons!" they turn around at the sound of their shared name. It's Skye, calling to them from the shore. "What are you two pasties doing there? Come on, the water's great!"

They both quirk an eyebrow at being called pasties, but soon enough Simmons moves away from Fitz to stand up. "She's right, we should join them."

Fitz is about to protest, until Simmons reaches to pull of her tank top, revealing a barely-there hot pink bikini top (definitely from Skye). She pulls down her shorts next, and Fitz feels his brain go numb. He doesn't even realize that his jaw is hanging open until she looks at him, face going from confused to bashful.

He makes a conscious effort not to stare after that, but it's proving to be more than difficult. He has always known that Jemma Simmons was pretty, but there had never been an opportunity to discover how _sexy_ she was too. It kind of makes Fitz feel worse about the fact that he's not nearly as cut as Ward. Ward is carved out like a Greek god, while he's just _pasty_. Someone as gorgeous as Jemma Simmons deserves someone who can stand next to her and match—if not complement—her beauty.

(He doesn't notice the little, equally-flustered looks she's been throwing his way since he'd abandoned his shirt.)

It's great. They're all in high spirits the whole afternoon. They swim, tan, eat the sandwiches Simmons packed for them, and stay long enough to watch the sunset.

They watch the sun touch the water, and Fitz feels a head rest on his shoulder. It's Simmons. Her hair is still wet, the strands that had fallen out of her stringy ponytail were stuck to her face, and she looked radiant, practically glowing with the orange rays of the sun reflecting on her face.

Fitz puts his arm around her and, peering past the top of her head, admires the smile on Simmons' face. She looks happy. Content. And he thinks to himself that maybe they should do this again, just the two of them. Not Simmons and Fitz with their families or Fitzsimmons with the team, just Jemma and Leo.

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><p><strong>I miss your reviews, lovelies. And I always accept requests. So drop me a message, yeah?<strong>


	10. The Diary

**And here is that other story that I posted on Tumblr but forgot to post here.**

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><p><strong>Prompt: <strong>fitzskyes: Simmons keeps a diary (of sorts) and Fitz finds out about it.

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><p><span><strong>The Diary<strong>

"Jemma?"

Slowly, Fitz pokes his head through the sliding door, only to find his partner's bunk empty. Where had she gone? He eyes Jemma's lab gown haphazardly thrown onto the bed, very much unlike her, and vaguely remembers Skye roaming the halls in search of a shopping companion. That's when it clicks. The two ladies hadn't been gone long, which meant they wouldn't be back for at least another hour.

That was a problem. He needed Jemma here now, while his brainwaves were still moving at a rapid pace. Together, they'd been studying possible ways to convert Tesseract technology into structures that could be used for medical purposes. He'd had a sort of breakthrough in the middle of the D.W.A.R.F bots' daily calibration, but he needed Jemma's notes to act on it, and they always kept their personal projects in their rooms rather than the lab, to keep from distracting them on missions.

He takes a quick scan around the bunk, trying to get inside his partner's head. They share nearly everything, but they had an unspoken agreement that each other's bedrooms were private, and information pertaining to anything related to it had to be shared willingly. Fitz was feeling impatient, however, and he did not fare well with impatience.

Fitz knows that while Jemma is very organized, she has a peculiar system that involves odd hiding places. So he looks under the bed first. He finds a few binders but most of them are old, one of them dating back to their Academy days, and it even has a few pictures of them tacked between the pages.

He goes through the drawers next, finding lab reports from recent missions and a few knick-knacks from her grandmother's care packages, but the notes he needs are still out of sight. He goes through her closet, pulling out her secret stash of Twizzlers and stealing a few vines for himself before returning it to its hiding place. Behind that he finds another binder, but they still don't contain the notes he needs.

So he decides to check under the mattress. He doesn't really think Jemma would keep her notes there, but discovering her little hiding places is starting to feel a bit like a game, and Fitz is having fun playing it.

It's not a binder, it's a leather-bound notebook. The cover is worn and he can see her copy of the selfie they took in Peru peeking out of its pages. While Fitz has already seen out of their hiding places, at least once before, the previous items he'd found in her room, he's never seen this before.

He knows it's an invasion of privacy, but it's like his fingers move on their own accord when he flips the book open.

In the first entry, her handwriting is scrawled, and he can see smudges on the ink and the telltale shape of tearstains. He glances at the date and understands. It's her first day at the Academy. She's homesick and she feels out of place and all she has of her parents at the moment is this little notebook that they'd sent her off with. He doesn't read through it—never likes to think about her in any kind of pain-and he leafs through the other entries, not wanting to intrude into her thoughts so completely. He stops when he comes across a familiar date.

_I met a boy today (no, not like that). Nielsen and his cohorts were inflicting a rather cruel prank on him, cruel even for them. His name is Leo Fitz. It's short for Leopold, I think? Or Leonard._

_It's been a while since I'd come across anyone my age, and it's been even longer since I'd heard an accent that sounded familiar. He was a bit jittery though, and he didn't seem to trust me, even after I offered to give him something to quicken the healing of his black eye. Ugh, I can't even make friends with someone my age! The other cadets are nice enough, but it's so tiresome to be treated like a toddler. They don't seem to really see me as anything more than "cute little competition". I heard Meagan say that to the girls when they were in the loo and they didn't know I was there. They hardly ever really seem to acknowledge my presence unless it suits them._

_Maybe I should try to make conversation again with Leo Fitz when I see him again? I've never actually seen him around with anyone, though. It makes me wonder if he actually likes being alone or if he just doesn't trust anyone enough._

_Well, I'm certainly tired of being alone._

Fitz knows he's crossed a line, reading this. But at the same time he feels… relieved? His whole life he thought he depended too much on his friendship with Jemma, that someone like him was easily disposable to someone like her. He hardly ever acknowledges such thoughts, but the idea is there just the same, a small voice in the back of his head. To find out though that she depended on his friendship as much as he did hers… he feels the voice disappear.

All the entries after that seem to include his name at least once. He doesn't read anything after the first one, mostly just leafs through to eye the dates, what occasions were significant to her, how often he might be mentioned in her entries. He's on nearly every page, apparently. Which is a surprise and at the same time isn't.

(He thinks he comes across her writing the words _"it's probably just a crush"_ in one of the pages while his name had been mentioned just a paragraph before, but he doesn't want to read it, should he get his hopes up.)

Fitz hears Jemma's familiar laugh mixed in with Skye's and he quickly returns the diary to its proper place. He races out of her bunk and thankfully, Jemma and Skye don't see him. He rushes to his own bunk and leaves the door open.

He doesn't have to wait long until she knocks.

"D'you have fun?" he asks casually, smiling up at her.

Jemma nods in answer and proceeds to pull something out of the bag she's holding. "I got you this," she says, handing him a tie.

Fitz can't help but beam at the knowledge that even with Skye, he was still somewhere on Jemma's mind. "I love it."

"Ward texted," she told him then. "He said you were looking for some of my notes? Did you find them?"

He shakes his head, "Uh, no."

"Well come on," she says, turning around and expecting him to follow, "let's get to work then."

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><p><strong>I await your reviews, my loves!<strong>


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